<h4>Chapter 214 People live eternally through memories...</h4>


    Capital City ''Astra'', Core Area.


    Rex Mansion, outside Ashtel''s office room.


    Link and Riya stood in front of Ashtel''s office room with solemn expressions on their faces.


    Link even looked a bit nervous at the moment.


    Just when he was about to knock on the door, the door opened by itself and the head butler walked out of the room.


    A gentle smile hung over his old face. His smile widened further when he noticed Link and Riya being so nervous.


    "Master Ashtel is not at the mansion right now, young master Link… you might have to wait for tomorrow to meet him…" (Butler)


    "uh, where did he go Grandpa Olin?" (Link)


    Link''s real grandpa died during the starting years of the fifty-year orc war. Olin might not be his real grandfather, but Link considers him as such.


    The head butler Olin has seen Link grow up from the day he was born, and thus Link started to call him ''Grandpa Olin''.


    At Link''s question, Olin shook his head and said in a gentle tone.


    "I don''t know the specifics, but he said that he was going to solve some old matters… I have no idea about it though…" (Olin)


    Link nodded his head and thought to himself.


    ''Could it be… he doesn''t want to see my face because I was unable to protect myrade… does he think of me as a failure now?'' (Link)


    Link clenched his fists and his shoulders dropped, he was clearly depressed by this.


    Link was feeling depressed but he didn''t say it out loud, but such things didn''t apply to Riya at all.


    "Grandpa… is he angry at us?" (Riya)


    A nervous look appeared on Riya''s face too.


    Both Link and Riya knew that Ashtel was not a person who would get angry at just anything.


    But there were also things that Ashtel could not tolerate, and that included ''Failure''.


    Ashtel trained Link since the day he was five years old, and he was always strict in his teaching.


    He gave the knowledge of all his techniques to Link over the years. The training was strict but effective.


    But the only thing that Ashtel didn''t tolerate was ''Failure''.


    Today, Link came back from his mission while ''failing to protect hisrades'', and thus he was quite nervous about how Ashtel would react to it.


    Olin smiled gently and replied to Riya''s question in a gentle tone.


    "No, he didn''t seem angry when he left, you don''t need to worry youngdy, even if he was angry, only young master Link will be punished…" (Olin)


    Although Olin was trying to console Riya, it was totally ineffective.


    "No… i-I was the reason why we failed… I-I was not able to save the life of our friend…" (Riya)


    Riya''s eyes became a bit moist as she said that, the blow she received from Zach''s death was just too huge for her.


    Before this, she had never failed in healing any fatal injury and this was the first time that her healing was so ineffective.


    "If I was an A-ranker…. I could have saved him…" (Riya)


    Riya is a genius who has the potential to reach rank SS one day, if she advances to rank A, she certainly can deal with ''mild'' corruption effects. (Only an S-rank or above level healers can do this usually…)


    Seeing the depressed look on both Link and Riya, Olin finally understood just how severe the situation was.


    This is the first time he has seen Riya so sad, usually, she is always energetic and happy.


    "Uh, how about you twoe with me, I will brew some fine coffee for you two, that might help your rx your mind…" (Olin)


    Link and Riya nodded their head and epted his offer.


    They both followed him to a small waiting room near Ashtel''s office.


    While they both sat on the couch, Olin brewed coffee for them.


    Just then an olddy also arrived in the room, her back was a bit hunched and she seemed just as old as Olin.


    "Grandma Ste, good evening…" (Link and Riya said in unison)


    Ste is the wife of the head butler Olin, she was the one who raised Link with love and care in ce of his real mother. Link respects her even more than his father.


    "Hoh… strange… the voice of you two is not as energetic as always… did something happen?" (Ste)


    Ste slowly walked over and sat on the opposite couch without hesitation.


    A solemn look appeared on her face as she felt the depressed atmosphere around the two young children.


    "Ah, it''s that they-" (Olin)


    "Olin, I want to hear it from them, you know…" (Ste)


    Ste red at Olin and he immediately went silent and continued to do his own work of brewing coffee. It seems this was just a normal urrence to him.


    Ignoring the previous exchange between the old couple, Link and Riya started to tell their story to Ste. (Sometimes, sharing your story with others, can reduce your pain and suffering by a lot…)


    …


    After a few minutes, Ste nodded her head as she finally understood what was going on.


    "Although I am not really as talented as you kids, even I know that there is no reason to me you two for what happened…" (Ste)


    Ste and Olin are both B-rankers, but they are already near the end of their lifespan, they have served the Rex family for more than eight decades now.


    Thus they also had some knowledge about how strong S-


    rankers were.


    They had seen Ashtel when he was still an S-ranker and thus they both were aware that it was too much for kids like Link and Riya to handle such strong beings.


    "Instead I am more surprised by the fact that you were able to make it out unscathed from the grasp of such a strong demon… this is already a great feat in itself…" (Ste)


    "As for the loss of arade… I will just say one thing, there are things in this world that you can''t stop from happening, and sometimes life makes you so powerless that you end up at the bottom pits of despair…" (Ste)


    "Although that friend might not return now, you can keep his memories safe in your heart…" (Ste)


    "As long as someone''s memories are being carried on by others, that person remains alive in their hearts…" (Ste)


    At Ste''s gentle words, both Link and Riya''s eyes started to shine again and their depressed looks disappeared.


    Olin brought the coffee and ced it in front of them both, then he sat beside Ste. (He made coffee for all four of them…)


    Seeing the coffee, Riya brought out the box of candies and sweets that was gifted to her by Zach. (Mentioned in the reunion chs, read them again if you don''t remember it…)


    Riya nced at those sweets and said in aplicated tone.


    "Am I still allowed to have these candies… even though I don''t deserve them…" (Riya)


    At Riya''s words, Ste smiled and said in a gentle tone:


    "Yes, your friend prepared them for you as a parting gift, I am sure he will be happy if he knew that you appreciated this gift…" (Ste)


    Riya stopped hesitating after hearing those words, she took some and gave a few to Link too.


    While eating those sweets, tears fell from her eyes as she med herself for her own powerlessness.


    Seeing this, Ste got up from her seat and walked over to Riya. She used her handkerchief to wipe her tears and patted her head to calm her down.


    Riya directly hugged Ste and started to sob silently. Eventually, she fell asleep in Ste''s arms.


    "Sigh...It seems the blow was a bit too heavy for her… but at least she cried her heart out now… I guess she will be fine after she wakes upter…." (Ste)


    Olin nced at the sleeping face of Link and shook his head.


    "They both seemed to have been under a lot of stress… I guess they fell asleep after they got rid of the stress caused by constant self-me…" (Olin)


    Ste nodded her head as she patted the head of both of them. A gentle smile hung over her old face.


    Olin took the used cups and organized the tables neatly.


    "By the way, what about Master Ashtel, he might get angry at them for returning with failure…" (Olin)


    Ste simply smiled at Olin''s words and said in a calm voice.


    "Hmph, I will kick that bast*rd''s A*s if he daredy a hand on these little kids!… who does he think he is!? I have raised him since the day he was a snotty brat!" (Ste)


    "Cough!! Ahem…" (Olin)


    Olin knew that no one in the whole human empire dared to say this about Ashtel aside from Ste.


    (Fun fact, Ashtel is very respectful towards Ste as she is like a motherly figure to him… he calls her Aunt and calls Olin Uncle…)


    And the fact is, that Ste might really kick Ashtel if he dared to be rude to these children in her presence.


    ...


    …


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Sometimes memories are the best medium to keep your loved ones alive in your heart, even if their silhouette is long gone, they will live in your heart as long as you keep their memories safe…


    Question of the day.


    Which memories will you like to remember forever?


    (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.